title: The highest background radiation school in the world and the health status of its students and their offspring.
abstract: Although the average effective human dose from natural background radiation is about 2.4 mSv per year, the students of the Saeid Nafisi school in Ramsar received effective doses of about 250 mSv while studying there for over 5 years. The goal of this project was a retrospective study of the health status of former students of this school and their offspring. The list of the students of the Saeid Nafisi school (high background radiation) and Taleghani and Kashani schools (ordinary background radiation) was provided by the Department of Education. After matching sex, age and socioeconomic level and obtaining their consent, part 1 of the specifically designed questionnaire was filled out by interview, and clinical examinations were recorded in part 2 of the questionnaire by a physician. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 16. Our study shows that 88.1 % of general examinations of high background radiation school students were normal as compared with 85.7 % for control group. There were no significant differences. This study is interesting and unique. It reveals that there is no health emergency related to these high radiation doses. We recommend continuing the health supervision of this population in the future.
authors.affiliation: a Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center , Babol University of Medical Sciences , Babol , Iran.
authors.forename: Sajad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borzoueisileh
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shabestani Monfared
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Comby
authors.forename: Meysam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khosravifarsani
authors.forename: Parya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roshan Shomal
authors.forename: Mir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saeid Ramezani
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramezani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D001417:Background Radiation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003248:Constipation / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000209:etiology; D013334:Students; D055815:Young Adult